Aang
Aang is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character is created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and is voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang is depicted as the show's protagonist. Aang is the series' reluctant hero, and depicted largely as a Trickster. The series depicts Aang as the last surviving Airbender and a monk of the Air Nomads, the people able to manipulate the air. He is a supercentenarian at the age of 112; but remained in suspended animation for one century, and has thus physically aged only 12 years. It is revealed in the second episode that he is the current incarnation of the "Avatar", the spirit of the planet in human form. As such, Aang has the ability to control the four classical elements and is tasked with keeping the Four Nations at peace. The show follows Aang's journeys to complete this task, during a war instigated by the Fire Nation. Aang has appeared in other media, such as trading cards, video games, T-shirts, and web comics. Aang has also appeared in the feature film The Last Airbender in which he was played by Noah Ringer, and The Legend of Korra where he is voiced by D.B. Sweeney. Creation and conception Aang's character was developed from a drawing by Bryan Konietzko, depicting a bald man with an arrowlike design on his head, which the artist developed into a picture of a child with a flying bison. Meanwhile, Michael Dante DiMartino was interested in a documentary about explorers trapped in the South Pole, which he later combined with Konietzko's drawing thus: The plot they described corresponds with the first and second episodes of the series, where the "water people" (Katara and Sokka) rescue the "air guy" (Aang) while "trapped in a snowy wasteland" (the Southern Water Tribe) with "some fire people that are pressing down on them" (Fire Nation Troops and Zuko). The creators of the show intended Aang to be trapped in an iceberg for one thousand years, later to wake inside a futuristic world, wherein he would have a robot named Momo and a dozen bison. The creators lost interest in this theme, and changed it to one hundred years of suspended animation. The robotic Momo became a flying lemur, and the herd of bison was reduced to one. According to the show's creators, "Buddhism and Taoism have been huge inspirations behind the idea for Avatar." A notable aspect of the character is his vegetarian diet, consistent with Buddhism, Hinduism, or Taoism. In the Brahmajala Sutra, a Buddhist code of ethics, vegetarianism is encouraged. In "The King of Omashu", Aang demonstrates his vegetarian beliefs by refusing to eat meat. Furthermore, Aang consistently shows a reluctance to fight and an aversion to killing. In "The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)", Aang encounters an angry spirit destroying a village and kidnapping villagers; but instead of fighting the spirit, Aang negotiates. Airbending, the martial art Aang primarily uses in the show, is based on an "internal" Chinese martial art called Baguazhang. This fighting style focuses on circular movements, and does not have many finishing moves; traits meant to represent the unpredictability of air and the peaceful character of Airbenders. In the episode "Tales of Ba Sing Se", Aang’s name was written as 安昂 (ān áng) in Chinese. Plot overview The producers of the show have named each season a "book", whereof each was named after one of the four elements in the show. Flashbacks also reveal events that happened before the show opened, as in one wherein the elders of the Air Temple hold a private meeting with Aang to reveal his identity as the Avatar and Monk Gyatso, Aang's mentor and father-figure, insists that Aang be raised as an ordinary child; whereupon the other elders attempt to separate the two, prompting Aang to flee their monastery. During this flight, Aang and his bison Appa become caught by a storm, and later encased in an air-pocket among icebergs. After 100 years, Katara and her brother Sokka free Aang and Appa; and the four embark to find a Waterbending master to teach Aang and Katara. Throughout their journey they are pursued by Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation. In one episode, Aang meets his previous incarnation, Avatar Roku, who informs him that he must master all four bending arts and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before the end of summer. Among the Northern Water Tribe, Waterbending Master Pakku teaches Aang, and later Katara.The Waterbending Master". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2005-11-18. No. 18, season 1. In the second season, Aang learns earthbending from Toph Bei Fong, a blind earthbending prodigy. At the end of the second season, a muni or yogi attempts to teach Aang to open his seven chakras in order to control the defensive 'Avatar State'; but when Aang perceives Katara in danger, he leaves before the seventh chakra is opened, and thus loses his progress until the seventh is opened by another figure. He is injured, and the Avatar concept nearly lost, by antagonist Azula; but resurrected by Katara. In the third season, Aang and his remaining allies attack the Fire Nation's capital; but are thwarted by Azula. In the following episode, Zuko has a change of heart and offers to teach Aang firebending. In "The Firebending Masters" Aang and Zuko improve their firebending powers with the help of their world's last two dragons. During the finale, Aang learns to manipulate other people's essential natures from an immense 'lion-turtle'. With this ability, Aang removes Ozai's ability to manipulate fire, and thus renders him harmless. Later, in the Fire Nation capital, Aang is seen beside Zuko while the latter is appointed Fire Lord. The episode and series end with Aang and his friends relaxing at Iroh's tea shop at Ba Sing Se. In the sequel series The Legend of Korra, it is stated that alongside Fire Lord Zuko, Aang founded Republic City, to represent the international peace. In the following years, Aang and Katara had married and had three children: Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin. The former two children were respectively named after Katara's mother and Aang's friend, King Bumi of Omashu. Their third child, Tenzin, currently resides in Republic City with a family of his own, and is the only Airbending master alive at the start of the series. Aang's physical appearance as an adult, resembling that of Michael Dante DiMartino, is shown in the series' opening and in Korra's flashbacks. In 128 ASC, Aang assisted Toph in arresting a crime lord known as Yakone. After attending his arrest, Aang watched the trial, where Yakone was convicted of using a rare and illegal technique called bloodbending. Yakone then tried to escape Republic city by using his unique abilities to subdue everyone in the court room, thus leaving them unconscious. Able to resist Yakone's bloodbending through the Avatar State, Aang put a halt to his Yakone's plans by utilising energy bending to remove his bending for good. At the end of the first season, Aang's spirit appears to Korra and restores the bending ability taken from her by Amon. Characteristics Michael Dante DiMartino, the show's co-creator, said: Aang is depicted in the series as a vegetarian, as shown in "The King of Omashu" and "The Headband" when he refuses to eat meat on grounds that "all life is sacred". Aang states a reluctance to fight in "The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)"; Aang negotiates with a spirit who is destroying a village instead of fighting. He is also depicted showing ethical reluctance in killing Firelord Ozai, and eventually strips Ozai of his bending instead of killing him. In the show, Aang has friends in all four nations. Aang reveals in "The Storm" that he wishes he had been there to help his people a century ago, but would rather live a child's carefree life. Multiple times in the show, Aang demonstrates compassion, whimsy and occasionally, deceit. In some episodes, he demonstrates flight abilities with airbending. One technique for this is to make a whirling spherical whirlwind and ride on it, which Aang calls the Air Scooter. Other methods of flying include his glider, and Appa. In the Avatar State, Aang can also fly inside a spherical whirlwind. Appearances ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' Pre-series After the death of Avatar Roku, Aang was born and raised by Monk Gyatso, a friend of his previous life. But due to Fire Lord Sozin's war, the other monks reveal Aang's identity as the Avatar and attempt to take the boy from Gyatso. This causes Aang to flee the monastery on his flying bison Appa before being caught by a storm, and later encased in an air-pocket among icebergs. Book One: Water After one hundred years of suspended animation in an iceberg, twelve-year old Aang was freed when found by Katara and Sokka yet unaware of the events that occurred during his rest. His reawakening catching the attention of Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation, Aang is forced to leave with Katara and Sokka accompanying them when they learn he is the Avatar. Aang and his new friends visit the Southern Air Temple where they meet a winged lemur that Aang later names Momo. It was there that Aang learns that he was in the ice for a whole century and that the Fire Nation wiped out his people, including Gyatso. After a series of misadventures, Aang meets his previous incarnation Roku informing him that he must master all four bending arts and end the war before the coming of Sozin's Comet at the end of summer. Upon arriving to the Northern Water Tribe, after a few conflicts, Aang became an apprentice of Waterbending master Pakku alongside Katara.The Waterbending Master". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2005-11-18. No. 18, season 1. After helping the Water Tribe drive off a Fire Nation invasion headed by Admiral Zhao, with Katara as his teacher, Aang and his group journey to the Earth Kingdom to find an earthbending teacher. Book Two: Earth In the second season, Aang learns earthbending from Toph Bei Fong after he has a vision of the blind earthbending prodigy in a swamp. On their journey, they are chased by Fire Princess Azula and her friends Mai and Ty Lee. After learning of the Day of Black Sun in a secret underground library, Aang and his group attempt to reveal the information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. However, their flying bison Appa is captured by sandbenders. Aang grows upset and angry and confronts the sandbenders learning Appa has been sold. After stopping a Fire Nation drill threatening the safety of Ba Sing Se, they look for Appa only to find themselves dealing with the Dai Li before exposing their leader's deception. The group reunites with Jet helping them find Appa at Dai Li headquarters. They expose the Hundred Year War to the Earth King who promises to help them invade the Fire Nation. Soon after, Aang meets a guru who attempts to teach Aang to open his seven chakras in order to control the defensive 'Avatar State'; but when Aang perceives Katara in danger, he leaves before the seventh chakra is opened, and thus loses his progress until the seventh is opened. Though Aang manages to unlock the Seventh Chakra, he is mortally wounded by Azula, yet was saved by Katara before the injury became truly fatal. Book Three: Fire In the third and final season, Aang is unable to use the Avatar State. Although reluctant with the plan at first, Aang accepts to have everyone think he had died before and his remaining allies attack the Fire Nation's capital; but are thwarted by Azula. However, Zuko has a change of heart, rebels against his father, and offers to teach Aang firebending. Aang and Zuko also improve their firebending powers with the help of their world's last two dragons. During the finale, finding himself on a strange island, Aang is reluctant to actually kill Fire Lord Ozai despite his four previous past lives convincing him it is the only way. But upon learning that he was actual on the back of a Lion Turtle, one of four that made the first benders by manipulating humans' chi, Aang receives the Lion Turtles' Energybending ability. With this ability as he regained his Avatar State, Aang removes Ozai's bending ability, rendering him harmless and ending the Hundred Year War. Later, in the Fire Nation capital, Aang is seen beside Zuko as the new Fire Lord. The series end with Aang and his friends relaxing at Iroh's tea shop at Ba Sing Se, where Aang and Katara share a kiss. Post-series Comics Aang appears in the comic Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise that follows Aang and his friends after the events of the third season. In the comic, Zuko asks Aang to kill him if Zuko follows his father's footsteps. Additionally, Aang is confronted with the "Avatar Fan Movement", a growing group of young individuals trying to live as the air nomads did, but Aang views these people as parodying and denigrating the memory of his people. He also has a more limited role in the direct sequel Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search. ''The Legend of Korra'' Pre-series In the sequel series The Legend of Korra, Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko founded Republic City. In the following years, Aang had married Katara and they had three children: Bumi named after King Bumi of Omashu (Aang's friend), Kya named after Kya (Katara's mother), and Tenzin. In his adult years, Aang grew a neatly cropped chinstrap beard, which many statues of Aang's adult form depict him with, including the one in the restored Southern Air Temple. He also founded the Air Acolytes to honor the legacy of the airbenders. In 128 ASC, forty-year old Aang assisted Toph in arresting Water Tribe crime lord Yakone. As Aang watched the trial where Yakone was convicted of using the rare and illegal technique bloodbending, Yakone then tried to escape Republic City by using his unique abilities to subdue everyone in the court room, thus leaving them unconscious. Able to resist Yakone's bloodbending through the Avatar State, Aang used his energybending abilities to put a halt to Yakone's plans. Being frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years while in the Avatar State drained much of Aang's life energy. While he did not feel the effects for many years, after he entered middle age in his 50's the strain of this exertion increasingly weighed upon his body. Ultimately, it resulted in Aang dying at the relatively young biological age of 66 in 153 ASC. Aang was survived by his wife Katara and his three children (but he did not live to see his grandchildren born to Tenzin and Pema). Prior to his death, Aang tasked the Order of the White Lotus with finding and guiding the new Avatar after him. When Aang died, the Avatar spirit reincarnated into the Southern Water Tribe female Korra. Aang had intended for the Order to simply guide Korra, but several mishaps from Aang's death and the still-fragile stage of relations between the Four Nations caused the Order to decide to keep Korra sequestered away in a compound at the South Pole to train there with master benders brought in from across the world (including Katara herself). Book One: Air in The Legend of Korra.]] In the sequel series' first season, Avatar Aang's spirit had served as the spiritual advisor to seventeen-year old Korra of the Southern Water Tribe (much like his past life Roku did for himself). Originally, Aang was only able to give Korra glimpses of his memory concerning Yakone in relation to her confrontations with his two sons Amon and Tarrlok, the products of Yakone's bloodbending vendetta on the Avatar. It was only after she lost her ability to bend that Korra became spiritually enlightened enough for her to meet Aang as he taught her energybending to fully restore her bending abilities and help Amon's other victims. He had also given her access to the divinely powerful Avatar State. Book Two: Spirits The sequel series' second season revealed that Avatar Aang apparently treated Tenzin as his favorite child due to his son's airbender status as Kya and Bumi mentioned to Tenzin that Aang always took Tenzin on vacations with him but never them. Aang's Air Acolytes also were unaware that Aang had two other children besides Tenzin or that they were not Airbenders much to Kya and Bumi's irritation. Aang himself later appears along with Roku, Kyoshi and Kuruk before Korra in a vision and encourage her to learn the origins of Wan (the first Avatar) and Raava. Before ceasing to be when Raava is separated from Korra and is seemingly destroyed by the Dark Avatar, Aang appears in the Spirit World before Tenzin to tell his son to follow his own path to overcome the fears and escape the Fog of Lost Souls with Kya, Bumi, and Jinora's spirit. Appearances in other media Games Aang's character appeared in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game on a multitude of cards. He appeared in the ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' video game as one of the four playable characters. Two sequels were made: Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth, followed by Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno. Aang also appeared in Escape from the Spirit World, an online video game that can be found on Nickelodeon's official website. The game includes certain plot changes that are not shown in the show. The show's directors, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, claim the events are canon. Films Tokyopop has published a films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga), in which Aang, being the main character of the show, appears repeatedly. In 2010 director M. Night Shyamalan cast 12-year-old Tae Kwon Do practitioner Noah Ringer as Aang in the film adaptation of the series, The Last Airbender. The casting of a presumed white actor in the role of Aang (as well as a primarily Caucasian cast) in the Asian-influenced Avatar universe triggered negative reactions from some fans marked by accusations of racism, a letter-writing campaign, and a protest outside of a Philadelphia casting call for movie extras. A counter-movement was spawned in response by other fans who believed the casting was appropriate. The casting decisions were also negatively received by several critics who stated that the original casting call expressed a preference for Caucasian actors over others. Noah Ringer later identified himself to Entertainment Weekly as an American Indian. Reception In the show's intended demographics, Aang has been received exceptionally well. Kendall Lyons stated, "Aang seems to be the lighthearted kid that you can easily familiarize yourself with", and that he "seems to bring comfort in the most dangerous or hostile situations." There are many similar descriptions about Aang as a childlike character who is "reckless and excitable". Reviews point out that "as the Avatar, Aang seems unstoppable, but as Aang, he is just another Airbender"; the review states later that the show continues to focus on a more realistic character instead of a perfect one by revealing many character flaws. Appearances in other media portraying Aang in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender".|Noah Ringer as Aang in M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.]] Aang's character appeared in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game on a multitude of cards. He appeared in the ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' video game as one of the four playable characters. Two sequels were made: Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth, followed by Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno. Avatar T-shirts, some with Aang appearing on them, are being sold through the Nickelodeon Shop website. Tokyopop has published a films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga), in which Aang, being the main character of the show, appears repeatedly. Aang appeared in Escape from the Spirit World, an online video game that can be found on Nickelodeon's official website. The game includes certain plot changes that are not shown in the show. The show's directors, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, claim the events are canon. In 2010 director M. Night Shyamalan cast 12-year-old Tae Kwon Do practitioner Noah Ringer as Aang in the film adaptation of the series, The Last Airbender. The casting of a presumed white actor in the role of Aang (as well as a primarily Caucasian cast) in the Asian-influenced Avatar universe triggered negative reactions from some fans marked by accusations of racism, a letter-writing campaign, and a protest outside of a Philadelphia casting call for movie extras. A counter-movement was spawned in response by other fans who believed the casting was appropriate. The casting decisions were also negatively received by several critics who stated that the original casting call expressed a preference for Caucasian actors over others. Noah Ringer later identified himself to Entertainment Weekly as an American Indian. References External links * Official TV Show Website at Nick.com * Aang at Nick.com Category:Avatar: The Last Airbender characters Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2005 Category:Fictional avatars Category:Fictional Baguazhang practitioners Category:Fictional characters with air or wind abilities Category:Fictional characters with earth or stone abilities Category:Fictional characters with fire or heat abilities Category:Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities Category:Fictional characters with water abilities Category:Fictional cryonically preserved characters Category:Fictional Hung Ga practitioners Category:Fictional Tibetan people Category:Fictional refugees Category:Fictional monks Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional pacifists Category:Fictional sole survivors Category:Animated human characters Category:Male characters in animation Category:Child characters in television Category:Teenage characters in television Category:Dark Horse Comics superheroes Category:Child superheroes Category:Fictional ghosts Category:Fictional shamans Category:Fictional Shaolin kung fu practitioners Category:Fictional taichi practitioners Category:Fictional child soldiers Category:Fictional war veterans Category:Superhero television characters